Pump



May 18, 1965 Filed Jan. 9, 1963 G. S. HELLlWELL v PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 1May 18, 1965 G. s. HELLIWELL PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 9, 1963May 1955 G. s. HELLIWELL PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 9, 1963 UnitedStates Patent 3,183,837 PUMP Guy S. Helliwell, Whitecroft, 139 HinckleyRoad, Kirby Muxloe, England Filed Jan. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 250,394 Claimspriority, application Great Britain, Jan. 11, 1962,

2 Claims. (Cl. 106-2) The subject of this invention is an improved formof pump for propelling liquids through a system, for example in dyeingmachines in which the dyeing liquor travels in a closed circuit. Theinvention has, in fact, been principallydevised in connection with thislast application and, although it obviously can be utilised in manyother fields, and is to be intended as covering other potential uses,nevertheless the following description will be confined to this typicalapplication for reasons of convenience.

Normally, the circulation of the dyeing liquor in a closed system of thekind referred to utilises one of two types of pump, viz. a centrifugalpump or a reversible axial flow unit. In the first case, that is to say,a pump with a uni-directional action, provision is made for changingover the liquor flow at the required times by the incorporation of areversing valve in the connections between the two sides of the pump andthe main circuit. This arrangement obviously entails extra installationcosts because of the additional piping required and it is found inpractice that quite substantial flow losses occur at the elbows of thepiping system thereby necessitated. Moreover, in practice the rate ofdelivery of liquor from the pump, that is to say the rate of throughputin the main system, cannot be varied without adjusting the motor, andthis is a wasteful operation as well as requiring an expensive motorunit.

In' the case of an axial flow pump, the reversal of the liquor isperformed by changing ,over the direction of rotation of the pump rotor,and in practice it is found that there is quite a substantial loss ofpressure at such a change over, which impairs the smooth and effectiveoperation of the system. In addition the rotor of the pump itself mustbe of robust construction to withstand the serious change of loadthereon at the time of reversal, and there is the further complicationof the extra cost of reversing switch gear. This arrangement is alsotypified by a very heavy thrust and wear on the end bearings of therotor. Here again, moreover, the rate of delivery by the pump cannot bevaried except by adjusting the motor.

,An object of the invention is a form of pump which avoids thestatedshortcomings.

Another object is a pump which can be operated to producea rapid butsmooth reversal of direction of the liquid delivery from the pumpwithout significant interruption ofthe'service and without power losses.

A further object is a compact form of such a pump with a built-inliquid-reversing. means.

Yet another object is a pump for the purposes stated which provides atall times for varying the delivery volume without interference with thepump operation.

These and other objects and advantages are set out in more detail below.

One form of centrifugal impeller pump constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention is illustrated by way of example inthe accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 of these drawings is a side view of the complete pumpinstallation, with part in vertical cross section on line II of FIGURE2.

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II--II of FIG- URE l.

3,183,837 Patented May 18, 1965 FIGURE 3 is a section on the lineIII-III of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective illustration of parts of the impeller unitshown removed and in one relative position, and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 4 but showing these partsin an alternative working position.

The complete assembly of the pump may, for convenience of description,be regarded as composed of three sections, viz. a motor block 1, animpeller unitZ and a control section 3. These have been generallydesignated in FIGURE 1 with the reference numerals quoted, and it willbe noted that the unit 2 and the section 3 are overhung from the motorblock 1, which therefore forms a simple mounting for the completeinstallation, facilitating its erection.

At the outlet side of block 1 the motor shaft 4 protrudes through abearing 5 and, at its end, has secured thereon a boss 6 forming the hubof a centrifugal fan comprising a plurality of radial blades 7. Theimpeller rotor constituted by blades 7 and hub 6 is accommodated in theunit 2 which comprises a fixed outer cylindrical housing 8 withliquid-flow service conduits 9 and 10 extending upwardly therefrom.These conduits are provided with upper end flanges 11 for connection toappropriate flow lines. It will be assumed that the pump installation,in the present case, is to serve a dyeing vessel and that the conduits 9and 10 will be connected through piping to appropriate unions at theupper and lower parts of the vessel for the purpose of circulatingdyeing liquor therethrough.

Mounted concentrically within the housing 8 by stays 13, 13 and 13" is acylindrical impeller casing 12 of smaller diameter. These stays are ofstrip form so as to constitute baffles, and it will be observed, fromFIG- URES 2 and 3 in particular, that housing 8 is apertured between thestays 13 and 13" to provide a liquid header opening to conduit 9, and atthe opposite side of stay 13" to provide a header 15 opening to conduit10. A further aperture 16 is provided in housing 8 adjacent stay 13, andthis serves as an outlet for draining the pump, at required times,through a pipe 17 secured to the lower part of the housing.

Received with a sliding lit in the impeller casing 12 is a cylindricalvalve shell 18 of substantially the same axial length. The shell 18 isfurnished at one end with a circular plate 19 which has a central,fiow-promoting,

conical boss 28 and is disposed with a sliding fit in a ring 20 on theinner face of housing 8. This housing has an adjacent end wall 21onwhich is externally mounted V a bearing 22 for an adjusting stem 23carrying the plate 19 and the cylindrical body of the valve shell.

The end wall 21 also has a looped bracket 24 providing a support forstem 23. secured to the outer end of stem 23.

Internally the valve shell 18 has along its length a shallowfrusto-conical partition plate 26 which divides the valve shell into anoutlet compartment A and an inlet compartment B. The taper of plate 26conforms to the inclination of the leading edges of the impeller blades'7, and plate 26 is provided centrally with an apertured boss 27 co-axialwith the impeller hub 6, i.e. with the.

A valve-adjusting hand lever 25 is' slots. There are, however, fourports in the casing 12, arranged in two axially-spaced pairs, each pairbeing disposed around one of the compartments A and B. Thepair 31 and 32(corresponding to valve slot 30 and compartment B) are arranged withtheir centre lines rotationally spaced by somewhat less than 180 (cf.FIGURE 2), with port 31 opening into header 14 and port 32 into header15. The other two ports 33 and 34 are also arranged opposite one anotherbut again are rotationally ofiset by less than 180 (cf. FIGURE 3); theyrespectively open into header 14 and header 15.

In operation, and with the valve adjusting lever 25 in the positionindicated, the parts are relatively disposed as illustrated in FIGURES 1to 4. When the impellcr is set into motion, liquor is drawn down conduitfrom a first outlet in the dyeing vessel, through the header l5 and theopening provided by port 32 and registering slot 39, and through the eyeof the impeller represented by the orifice in boss 27 under the suctionetfect of the centrifugal blades '7. The liquor reaching compartment Bis thrown out by the impeller blades and escapes through the slot 29 andeasing port 33 to header 14, whence it surges out through conduit 9 backto a second outlet of the dyeing vessel. This flow path through the pumpis indicated by the full arrows C in the drawings.

When the cycle is to be reversed, it is only necessary for the attendantto swing over the adjusting leverr so as to bring about the situationillustrated in FIGURE 5, that is to say with the valve slot 30 inregister with casing port 31 and valve slot 29 in register with casingport 34. Thus, without any change in the direction or rate of rotationof the impeller, the liquor is reversed so that it will take the pathindicated by the broken arrows D in the drawings, i.e. will pass throughthe nowregistering valve slot 30 and casing port 31 in compartment B,through the eye of the impeller and out through now registering valveslot 39 and casing port 34 of compartment A into header 15 and conduit10.

This all provides a simple facility for rapid changeover without varyingthe general direction of flow of the liquid. It will further beappreciated that the rate and volume of delivery of the pump can bevaried, for either direction of flow of the liquid, by choosing anappropriate degree of rotation of the valve shell and hence appropriateselection of the degree of overlap of the valve slots and casing ports.Thus, for example, the hand lever 25 may be equipped with a pointerwhich cooperates with a fixed dial carried by bracket 24 to guide theoperator.

The pump described avoids the various shortcomings of prior systems setforth above. Moreover, as the pump is delivering liquid under pressurewhatever the position of the valve, a permanent suction and deliveryconnection is available as required at any time and the valve can beused to limit the available pressure or rate of flow if either is abovethe immediate requirements.

The pump is of improved efiiciency due to the reduction in the powerlosses normally encountered in the pipes and bends as explained above.It is compact and avoids all the complications of by-passes to relievepressure, special forms of valve and expensive forms of operating motor.

I claim:

1. A liquid pump comprising a fixed cylindrical casing with two sets ofports therein, each set having at least two rotationally staggeredports, two conduits each connected with one of the ports of each set, acylindrical valve shell rotatably mounted with a sliding fit within saidcasing and having an apertured internal partition disposed in a planeperpendicular to the axis of the shell and dividing it into a"cylindrical inlet compartment and a cylindrical outlet compartment, animpeller mounted in said outlet compartment, the two sets of ports beingat positions along the axial length of the casing corresponding to thesetwo compartments, respectively, said valve shell having an arcuate slotin the peripheral wall of each of the inlet and outlet compartments forregistration with the associated set of ports, and a turning deviceconnected to said valve shell for rotating said shell to place saidliquid inlet and outlet compartments into liquid flow communicationselectively with, casing ports connecting to one or the other set ofconduits.

2. A liquid pump comprising a housing, an impeller casing supportedwithin said housing and spaced from the latter by stays to define twoliquid headers, liquid flow ducts connected to said housing andcommunicating one with each of said headers, a hollow cylindrical valveshell rotatably mounted with a sliding fit within said casing and havingan apertured internal partition which is disposed in a planeperpendicular to the axis of the shell and divides the latter into aliquid inlet compartment of cylindrical shape and a liquid outletcompartment'of cylindrical shape, an impeller arranged in said liquidinlet compartment and co-axial with the aperture in the partition, saidcasing being formed with two sets of ports each set having two portswhich are rotationally staggered at an angle of less than and at aposition along the axial length of the casing corresponding to acompartment, one port of each set communicating with one of the liquidheaders and the other port of each set communicating with the otherliquid header, and said valve shell being formed with one armate slot inthe wall of each said compartment, said slots being diametricallyopposed to one another, and acontrol device carried by the housing andconnected to the valve shell for adjusting the rotary position of theshell relatively to the casing, whereby each slot in the shell can bebrought optionally into communication with one or the other of the portsof the associated set so that the liquid inlet compartment is broughtinto communication with one or the other of said headers to control thedirection of liquid flow, and the degree of registration of valve slotsand easing ports can be varied to regulate the volume of said liquidflow.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,102,599 7/14Marlow 230-42 1,548,247 8/25 Bennett 103-3 2,255,001 9/41 Johnsen 103-32,260,169 10/41 Couch 103-3 2,337,325 12/43 Hach et al. 230-42 2,711,2836/55 Troxell 230-42 3,040,669 6/62 Rupp 1033 FOREIGN PATENTS 219,31912/58 Australia. 596,328 1/48 Great Britain.

LAURENCE V. EFNER, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH H. BRANSON, JR., Examiner.

1. A LIQUID PUMP COMPRISING A FIXED CYLINDRICAL CASING WITH TWO SETS OFPORTS THEREIN, EACH SET HAVING AT LEAST TWO ROTATIONALLY STAGGEREDPORTS, TWO CONDUITS EACH CONNECTED WITH ONE OF THE PORTS OF EACH SET, ACYLINDRICAL VALVE SHELL ROTATABLY MOUNTED WITH A SLIDING FIT WITHIN SAIDCASING AND HAVING AN APERTURED INTERNAL PARTITION DISPOSED IN A PLANEPERPENDICULAR TO THE AXIS OF THE SHELL AND DIVIDING IT INTO ACYLINDRICAL INLET COMPARTMENT AND A CYLINDRICAL OUTLET COMPARTMENT, ANIMPELLER MOUNTED IN SAID OUTLET COMPARTMENT, THE TWO SETS OF PORTS BEINGAT POSITION ALONG THE AXIAL LENGTH OF THE CASING CORRESPONDING TO THESETWO COMPARTMENTS, RESPECTIVELY, SAID VALVE SHELL HAVING AN ARCUATE SLOTIN THE PERIPHERAL WALL OF EACH OF THE INLET AND OUTLET COMPARTMENTS FORREGISTRATION WITH THE ASSOCIATED SET OF PORTS, AND A TURNING DEVICECONNECTED TO SAID VALVE SHELL FOR ROTATING SAID SHELL TO PLACE SAIDLIQUID INLET AND OUTLET COMPARTMENTS INTO LIDUID FLOW COMMUNICATIONSELECTIVELY WITH CASING PORTS CONNECTING TO ONE OR THE OTHER SET OFCONDUITS.